In the Forest of Fireflie's Light
by Teral
Summary: Novelization of Hotarubi no Mori e. Follows the manga. :3
**Hey,I watched H** **otarubi no Mori e for the first time not too long ago and decided it needed a novelization. This directly follows the manga. Hope you like it. Cheers :3**

 **I own nothing.**

I first met him when I was six years old. On a scorching hot summer day, in a forest that legend says to be home to many spirits and monsters.

I got lost. I ran everywhere trying to find the way out, and I quickly got tired. Because of fear and loneliness, I began to cry and then… he appeared.

There were flies buzzing all around my head. I sat in the grass behind a bush with my head in my hands. I was so afraid of being lost.

"Hey, Kid."

At first when I looked up, all I saw were trees. I blinked and looked again and there was an older boy with a fox mask. He had white hair, which I thought was strange since most people do not have white hair until they are older. "Why are you crying?" he asked.

My six year old mind became overjoyed. "...there...there's someone here! I'm saved!" I ran up to the boy about to give him a giant hug, but he dodged me and I crashed into the ground. I gave him a blank expression, and he said,

"I'm sorry. Are you a human child?" I gave him a puzzled look. "If a human touches me, I'll disappear," he said.

"You said 'human'? ...Onii chan isn't a human?"

He answered, "I'm someone who lives in the forest."

"Eh? Then...you're a monster?" I said with gleaming eyes. "But, what does 'disappear' mean?"

He looked as if he did not know or want to answer my question. I began to disbelieve him and tried to touch him. He hopped out of the way. I tried a few more times and he kept dodging me. Once more, and he picked up a stick and hit me on the head with it so I fell on the ground. "It...it looks like you really aren't human. Using a piece of wood to hit a child."

"What a scary brat," he said. "To disappear means...to be destroyed. Yamigami-sama placed a spell on me… Once I am touched by a human, then it is the end for me."

"So… sorry."

He pushed the stick toward me. "Here, brat. Since I can't hold your hand, just grab onto his stick. You're lost aren't you? I'll take you out of the forest," he offered.

"Thank you!" I became extremely grateful and jumped forward to give him a hug. Of course he used the stick again and beat me to the ground to keep me from touching him.

"Don't do that!"

"Sorry, I forgot..."

We walked through the forest with both of us holding either end of the stick. The forest was a beautiful place. "Heh heh. It's like a date!" I said.

"What an insipid date," he replied. "You aren't afraid?"

"What?" I said smiling softly.

"Just keep on walking straight here and you'll reach the road," he said as we passed along the edge of a stream.

We finally reached a shrine that was sat near the road. The road that led back to my grandfather's house. "Goodbye," the boy with the fox mask stated.

"Onii-chan stays here forever?" I asked sadly, "Can I see you if I come back?"

"Many spirits and monsters live in here. 'The minute you go, your heart will be lost,' 'You'll never return home!' The villagers all say that."

I stared at him for a moment not knowing what to say. "My name is Takegawa Hotaru. What about you?" But he stared at me for a moment through his mask. The wind was the only sound I heard. It was an awkward silence. "...anyway, anyway, I'll come back here with a thank you gift tomorrow!" I took off running down the road. "Bye!"

"It's Gin."

She turned around and he was gone. Flies buzzed around the air. Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice. "Hotaru!"

"Ah, Grandpa!"

"Hotaru, you little," he slapped her, "Idiot! Don't run off into the mountains by yourself! What if you get lost?!"

I took his hand and we headed home. "Grandpa, is it true that monsters live in the forest?"

"The Yamigami forest? It's only a legend," he said. "When I was little, I wanted to see the monsters, so I went with my friends. Even though we didn't see anything, I thought I saw something from the corner of my eye. Every summer, you can hear a faint melody from the forest at night… Now that I mention it, Iwa and the others once secretly participated in the summer festival in the forest...but… it was impossible for the villagers to have a summer festival in the forest. So what was that festival? Everyone thought they might have entered a monster's festival creating a big commotion… Ha ha, what memories...childhood was so much fun! Heh heh heh."

Gin looked up brightly when he saw me arrive back at the shrine where we last saw each other. "You came! I didn't think you would really come back."

"You…" I lunged at him joyfully. "You were waiting for me?!" He whacked me on the head with the stick again to keep me off him. "Ow."

"You will never learn!" he said.

"I was too happy, so I… sorry."

Gin said, "It's really hot here… let's go somewhere cooler!"

"Eh?"

"Don't worry, I'll bring you back."

"Okay!" I answered excitedly.

He led me over a bridge and through the forest. The bushes seemed to be rustling all around me. I was afraid. I wanted to cling onto Gin's arm, but knew not to. A monster peeped out from behind the trees. "Gin, is that a human child? Can I eat it?"

"No," said Gin sternly and I stood behind him. "She's a friend of mine."

"Is that so?" the monster said, "Human child, don' touch Gin. If you do, I'll eat you."

"Ah..." Gin stuttered, then, "ACHOO!" He startled the monster and it transformed into a...

I looked at the monster carefully as it scurried away, "Ah, a fox?"

Gin stated, "It is also a monster. They transform to scare humans, but they're actually good creatures.

I began jumping up and down energetically, "That is so cool! It's my first time seeing a monster! They do exist! Hooray!"

"What do you take me for?" Gin asked.

"Is Gin a faceless monster? Why do you wear a mask?"

He answered, "No real reason. Enough about me. Tell me about yourself, Hotaru!"

"Are you interested?"

"I'm here because I'm interested." His words made me smile cheerfully.

The next few days, I went to the forest. In those days running around and playing...even the boring things… made me feel extremely happy. He was lying in the field, but still could not see his face. "Gin, are you awake?" He did not answer. A thought came to mind, "It doesn't matter if I touch the mask…" My heart started beating really fast. What did Gin's face really look like? Being careful not to touch Gin, I removed his mask and saw his fair face. His eyes were closed, but then he opened them. I panicked and slammed the mask back onto his face. "Sorry!"

"Ah, ow!" he murmured. "Assaulting someone who is sleeping! Children are scary! That hurt!"

I said, "But you were only pretending to be asleep. Sorry!"

"Anyone would do that!"

Stopping to think for a moment, I then asked, "Why do you wear a mask?"

"If I don't wear this kind of mask…" he began, "I wouldn't seem like a monster would I?"

The wind blew past my face and I looked at Gin. "Ha-ha. You're weird." A sudden thought came to my mind and it made me feel sad. "I have to tell you Gin, that I won't be able to come back for a while. I told you this before, right?" I said. "I only come to my grandpa's house during the summer… so I have to return tomorrow no matter what."

"Okay," he only said.

"That's it?" I said and slumped my shoulders.

Gin answered, "You will come back next year?"

"Yeah!" I said cheerily.

And then I...began to long for summertime. On the arranged date, Gin would be waiting for me. Such summers passed twice and on the third one… a monster, that resembled a tree branch, reached out and hugged Gin. "Gin," it said. "Gin, be careful. That's a human child. If you touch it you'll disappear."

"Thanks, don't worry about it," he told it.

The monster said to me, "Human child, don't touch Gin."

"Yes!"

I found out, Gin seemed to be cherished by a lot of monsters. I found out… the monsters… can touch Gin. "Hotaru," Gin called out. "Hotaru, where are you? Hota-" he was surprised when he heard a rustling of leaves coming from above and looked up saw me hanging upside down from one of the branches. Then my dress fell and covered my face revealing my panties. "What are you doing?" he asked. Embarrassed, I climbed back up to sit on the tree branch.

"I wanted to see Gin startled," I said, "At least when I'm with you can take off your mask?"

He answered slowly, "I can but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Nothing in particular..." The branch I was sitting on began to creak and then, entirely cracked in half.

I was afraid, Gin reached out his arms about to catch me. What was he thinking? If he touches me, he'll disappear. "Watch out, Hotaru!" Then he stopped and let me fall to the forest floor freely. I crashed into a bush, hurting but relieved. "...how dangerous…" Gin stated. "I'm sorry, Hotaru. Are you okay?"

"Yeah…." I stared at him.

"Heh heh. But thank goodness," he said.

I told him, "Gin, no matter what, you must... never touch me!" He stared at me for a moment, maybe in sadness. "Okay? You mustn't." I began crying and he could only watch.

The next summer, and the summer after that one... I'd go to that forest. "Gin, I came again! Look, I've entered junior high!" I said showing off my new uniform. "It's strange," he said, "For some reason, I keep seeing you as a girl."

"I am a girl." What is that supposed to mean?

Once summer came, our age seemed to get closer and closer. Gin, compared to humans, seemed to age slower. While I went through the years changing my appearance…. Gin pretty much stayed the same, year after year. Sooner or later, I'll bypass Gin's age. Though somewhere in my heart, I had hoped that Gin might be a human.

It was winter. I was bundled up with a coat and scarf. I was walking to school with the boy who was a classmate of mine and we exchanged "good morning"s.

"Takegawa," he said. "There's some ice in front of you." He reached out his hand to me, "It's dangerous. You'll slip. Come over here."

I took his hand and said, "Thanks." Though inwardly, all I could think, was 'I want… to see Gin.

I want… to touch Gin.

I imagined Gin sitting at the shrine where we met many times before. I imagined him wearing the scarf I gave him during the summer, waiting for me to return.

"Is that a new uniform?" He asked me when summer came back around. I nodded. "You're already in high school."

"Yeah!"

He looked at me through his mask. "Hotaru doesn't try to jump on me anymore."

I scowled at him. "Of course not. I've been hit by you so many times," I said. "I can't wait. Once I graduate in three years, I want to find work here so I can see you all the time. Autumn, spring, or winter. Forever. Right?"

"Hotaru," he stated quietly, "Let me tell you about myself." I listened carefully to his words, "I'm not a monster, but I'm not human anymore. I seem to have been a human child before. But I was abandoned in the forest when I was a child. At the time, I should have died. But Yamagami-sama pitied me, and he used magic to keep me alive. Because of this, I have never gone to heaven, I'm kind of like a ghost." He looked at me and said, "Hotaru, it's okay if you forget me." I looked at Gin sadly. "A body that is depending on magic is very weak. Once I touch human skin, the magic will vanish, and I will disappear. I live a very unstable life."

"You will always… if you touch it, it'll disappear! That's kind of like snow!"

"Gin, I...think of you even during the winter...and in autumn, and in spring," I stated, "Gin, don't... forget me. But, even though it's like this, until that day, one day, time will... break us apart! Let's always be together!"

"Monster festival?"

"No, it's the summer festival of monsters."

"There's no difference."

"The phrasing is different."

"Phrasing?"

Gin said to me, "Hotaru was young, so I was afraid you'd be scared. But... can you come out tonight? I've been wanting to bring you.

"I… I want to go!"

He answered, "Then let's meet at eight at our usual place."

"...but it's kind of scary that it's all monsters. And it's at night too.

Gin told me assuringly, "Don't worry; the festival is similar to human ones. It's a festival that imitates human ones. I'll protect you Hotaru."

I blushed, "When you say things like that, I just want to pounce on you."

"That would make me really happy," said Gin, "I'm telling the truth."

The festival was filled with monsters disguised as humans and playing games, and many wearing masks like Gin's. Lanterns were hung between trees. The disguised monsters danced throughout the festival. "Wow, it's almost the same… do monsters pretend to be humans? Some of them aren't very good, though."

"Yeah, it's very outstanding!' exclaimed Gin. "Sometimes humans secretly join the festival. You can't even tell the difference."

"He's talking about Iwa," I thought aloud.

Gin looked at me, "Who?" When I didn't answer he handed me the end of his scarf and said, "Hotaru, tie this on your wrist. Or you'll get lost."

"Okay," I said without hesitation. I smiled, "Heh heh. It's like a date."

"It is a date," Gin said to me. I blushed and we began walking through the festival. Fireworks went off, the smell of skewered fish filled the air, and the sound of chattering party members was everywhere. As we walked, Gin told me, "Hotaru...I...can't wait for summer anymore...if we separate...even if I have to go through crowds, I'll still want to go and see Hotaru.

Gin stopped and I did the same. He pulled the fox mask off his face and put it on mine. Then he leaned in and kissed the cheek of the mask. Gin smiled, "You can have that mask."

I grew a sense of sadness. Next year's summer...he…. will definitely...not be at that place! This must be…the last time...

A little boy ran past us and tripped over a pebble. Before he could hit the ground, Gin reached out and grabbed his arm. "Be more careful," he told the boy.

"Thanks," and then the boy ran off.

Gin looked at his own hand. It was glowing with light. "Gin…?"

"Sometimes humans secretly join the festival and you can't tell the difference," he repeated, "That child just now was human…?!"  
I began crying, "Gi-"

But Gin did not seem sad. "Come, Hotaru. I can finally touch you!" I ran forward into his open arms and fully embraced his hug. I felt his warm body… and then it was gone. I was left holding his empty kimono.

"I love you."

"Me too."

"Yeah…"

I picked up Gin's fox mask and hugged it close. A sorrowful...Yamagami forest.

"Hotaru…" the monster said, "Thank you. Even though we wanted to be with Gin forever, in the end...Gin wanted to touch other humans. He could finally… be embraced by someone.

For now, I won't be able to look forward to the coming of the summer! My chest hurts. My tears keep falling. However, the warmth that still remains in my hands, and the memories of the summers, will remain with me forever. All right, let's go…

Let's go!

-The End-


End file.
